IRAN’S foreign minister warned on Sunday that his country still plans to retaliate against Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Abbas Araghchi made the remark in a conversation with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani by telephone.

“Iran reaction to Israeli terrorist attack in Tehran is definitive, and will be measured & well calculated,” Mr Araghchi wrote on the social platform X. 

“We do not fear escalation, yet do not seek it — unlike Israel.”

Mr Tajani said in a statement he “called for restraint and to pursue a constructive approach, in order to stop the cycle of military actions in the region, which only risks bringing more suffering.”

“It is important that Iran exercises moderation towards Hezbollah in order to avert an escalation on the Lebanese-Israeli border, where Italian soldiers of the UNIFIL contingent are operating, and towards the Houthis in order to avoid an increase in tensions in the Red Sea area, where Italy plays a leading role in the (European Union’s) Aspides mission,” he said in the statement.

Their call came after Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, long backed by Iran, traded heavy fire early on Sunday but backed off from sparking a widely feared all-out war.